The Misunderstood Violist
by ssj2luke
Summary: Raph has been secretly playing the viola for ten years. When his brothers find out, Mikey makes the mistake of teasing his instrument. He should have known not to mess with a violist.


Author's Note: This is a silly little comedy fic I came up with while listening to come viola concertos. I'm learning the basics of playing a string instrument in college, and I picked the viola because well, everybody always wants the violin, and I once heard a string quintet, and the viola caught my attention the most. So I just thought of this little fun fic where one of the turtles plays viola but is misunderstood by the others. The other fic, Green Guardian Angel, will be updated soon. I'm almost done with the second chapter.

**The Misunderstood Violist**

"Hah! Take that!"

"No! Take that!"

Michelangelo and Donatello bickered childishly as they played their everyday game of Super Smash Bros. Melee. It was what they used to take their minds off of training, as neither of them were ever that invested in it.

"Give it up bro! Kirby's gonna kick your shell!"

"Not yet, bro! You forgot about this!"

With that, Donatello pushed the combination on his joystick and changed from Sheik into Zelda.

Michelangelo chortled, "What, you're going with the slower player now?! What's that gonna do for you?!"

Donatello gave an evil smirk. "Ah, but with less speed, comes more power. Like with THIS!"

Surprising his orange-banded brother, Donatello made Zelda jump up into Kirby's face and deliver a fierce roundhouse kick that sent Kirby flying in the air.

"Oh no! NONONONONO GET BACK DOWN!"

But it was no use. Kirby's character gave one final scream of agony, and the game was finished. Mikey turned to his purple-banded brother.

"How did you do that?!"

Donatello patted his brother on the shoulder. "Ah, my silly bro. Never underestimate Zelda's ULTIMATE KICK OF DOOM!" He pumped his fist to emphasize the phrase.

"Yeah, well, I'll get you next time." Mikey whined, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I don't think so, little brother." Donny put a finger to his chin in mock thought. "What's that now, ten in a row?"

"Well…I…SHUT UP!"

Laughing, Donny grabbed his brother and led him into the kitchen. He took out the bread and began making a few peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

He looked around and said, "Hey, have you seen Leo and Raph anywhere?"

Mikey shrugged, "Nah. Leo always stays in the dojo after training…to do more training, and Raph's always in his room at this time."

"Oh yeah." Donny mused. He was quite used to Leonardo staying in the dojo after training. After all, he was a perfectionist, and he was never really satisfied with his performance. Donny could relate to that in how he was never satisfied with his inventions. But Raph was still a mystery.

For almost ten years, Raph had gone straight to his room after training, and had spent upwards of an hour in there. Donny was always curious as to what exactly he did in there, but his room was too far away, and Raph always insisted to be left alone. All Donny knew was that after the hour was up, Raph usually came out of his room looking a lot calmer than before.

Donny said to his brother. "Don't you always wonder what he does up there?"

"Yeah." Mikey thought about it for a second. "I mean, I always assumed he went up there to vent his anger, but whatever he does in there is never loud enough for me to hear. I don't thinking venting anger is quite that quiet."

They both sat there for a minute, before Mikey stood up.

"You know, I think it's about time we find out what he's been doing all this time."

Startled, Donny waved his hands frequently. "No, don't do that! You know what'll happen if we disturb him!"

"I don't care." Mikey said. "He's been hiding from us for ten years. I think it's fair that we know what he's been up to."

Leonardo, having heard the last part of the conversation, came into the dining room, a towel over his shoulders. "Know what who's been up to?"

Mikey, without looking around, began walking to the staircase. "Know what Raph's been doing in his room for the past ten years."

Wanting to prevent a possible disaster, Donny went to Leo. "Don't you think we should…*ahem*…" He motioned towards Mikey, "Leave well enough alone? We don't want to start any trouble."

To emphasize the point, he made strangling motions with his hands.

"Actually…" Leo responded, following Mikey, "I'm kind of curious myself. I think ten years of waiting is long enough, don't you?"

"Yes…but…" Donny pleaded. But as he noticed his brothers leaving him, he huffed, "Forget about it."

The three brothers slowly went up the stairs, stepping very gingerly on each one, determined not to disturb their hot-headed brother.

"Who knows…?" Leo said, "Maybe he just takes a nap after training. That's understandable enough."

"Yeah, but for ten years straight?" Mikey grunted, not stopping, "And in the same exact routine every day? I don't think so. Let's go."

And so the three brothers continued their trek up the stairs. As they got closer and closer to Raph's room, they began to hear a warm, rich sound in their ears.

"What's that?" Mikey asked.

"I don't know." Don replied. "It sound like an instrument of some kind."

The sound only got louder as they reached Raph's room. When they finally reached the door, the three pressed their heads to the doors, and what they heard nearly made their mouths drop open.

It was fluid. It was graceful. It was done with the intensity and complexity of any classic instrumental concerto. And to the astonishment of the three brothers, it was no recording.

"Raph's really playing that…" Leo marveled. "Isn't he?"

"Yeah." Mikey said, "Who knew ol' Raphy boy was playing a sting instrument all this time."

Donny looked at his brother. "How'd you know that was a string instrument?"

Mikey looked back, chuckling lightly. "What, you think I listen to rock music all the time? I listen to the occasional orchestral piece every now and then."

"Either way," Leo interrupted, "It sounds magnificent."

The other two nodded in agreement. They had never thought that their brother, their hot-headed punch-anything-that-looks-at-him-funny brother could be playing something so sensitive, so emotional. It was if every part of him that he never showed was being expressed through the amazing piece he was playing. The three almost had their eyes closed, enjoying the wonder that was coming out of Raph's room when it abruptly stopped. They looked at each other, fear in their eyes.

"Oh no!" Mikey said, "His hour must be up!"

"Crap!" Donny said back, "We've got to get out of here before…"

"And just what the shell are you three knuckleheads doin' out here?"

The three brothers turned around to see their red-banded brother staring down at them, his instrument still in his hand. In his other hand was a piece of music that had so many notes on them that the paper was nearly impossible to decipher.

"Uh…" Leo uttered, at a loss for words.

"We…" Mikey stuttered, "Wanted to hear you play?"

"Heh, likely story." Raph snickered, "You three didn't even know I played up to this point. So really, what were ya doin' up here?"

Standing up, Leo faced his brother. "Well, we were just tired of you hiding this from us for ten years, so we came up to see what you were up to. I must say I'm surprised, as well as very impressed."

"Yeah!" Mikey agreed, standing up as well, putting a hand on his brothers' shoulder. "Who knew you could play the violin so well, huh bro?

As quick as lightning, Raph's small smile vanished from his face, being replaced by a deep frown. "What did ya say, Mikey?"

"What?" Mikey stammered, backing away from his brother. "What did I say?"

"Goddammit, I am so sick of everyone calling me a violin player!"

"What's wrong with that, Raph?" Don asked. "Isn't that what you are?"

"Really, even you, brainiac?!" Raph shouted, throwing up his hands. Turning back to Mikey, he thrust the instrument in his face. "Does this look like a violin to you?!"

"Well, yeah." Mikey spluttered. "I mean, it's a little bigger than the ones I've seen in pictures, but yeah."

"It's a viola, dumbass. VIOLA. V-I-O-L-A. Completely different story."

Mikey paused for a second, before shrugging. "What's the difference?"

If looks could kill, Mikey would have been ash a long time ago. Raph decided to get it all out of the way. "It's two inches bigger, the sound is richer and deeper, and it has a C, G, D, and A string, as opposed to the violin that has a G, D, A, and E string, which means it's range is a fifth lower than a violin."

He let that information rest for a minute, before finishing it with, "In conclusion, there's A BIG DIFFERENCE!"

The room was completely silent for a moment, and then Leo decided to break the silence. "Well, violin or viola, I loved hearing you play, Raph."

Raph smiled back at Leo. "Thanks bro."

"Same here." Donny added, "I've never heard anyone play so beautifully before."

Raph shrugged. "Well, ten years of practice certainly helped."

Mikey, who had remained silent through the compliments, began thinking.

'_Who knew he'd get so angry over a little confusion?' _He thought, '_It's not my fault I mixed them up. Heck, he's been hiding this from us for so long, that he should be impressed I even identified it as a string instrument.'_

He paused on that moment, before a wicked smile appeared on his face. '_He has been hiding this for too long hasn't he? He's missed out on ten years of ridiculing by yours truly, and he expects to just get away with it. Not on his life.'_

So Mikey made the decision that he was unaware would come back to bite him in the future.

He decided to make fun of the red-banded turtle's viola.

"So Raph…" Mikey began, "About that viola."

"Yeah?" Raph asked.

"If you were to give it a nickname, would it be the fat violin, or the anorexic cello?"

Don and Leo's mouths instantly gaped open at Mikey's crudeness. They knew the orange-banded brother could be crass at times, having inherited some of it from his angrier brother, but this was ridiculous.

'_He doesn't know what he's getting himself into.' _Leo thought.

Raph stared at Mikey for a good solid minute, letting his words sink in. He growled softly, "Did you just call my viola an anorexic cello?"

"You bet." Mikey responded, a stupid grin on his face. "I mean, it's not like violas ever get to play anything important in orchestras. The violins and cellos always get the better stuff. Might as well associate it with the instruments that **matter.**"

At this point, Raph was practically shaking with anger. How DARE Mikey call the viola an instrument that didn't matter. He was just like every other person Raph talked to about string instruments. Whenever someone would ask him what he played and he would say he played viola, they would responded with a simple, "Oh." It's as if violas were just violin-wannabees to everyone who didn't know a thing about string instruments. Violas could play just as well as violins, and even better on some occasions, and Raph was frankly fed up with this ignorance.

"Oh Mikey." Raph growled, shaking his head back and forth. "Mikeymikeymikeymikey. You don't know what you've just caused."

With that, the red-banded turtle placed his viola on his bed and slammed the door in his brothers' faces. Leo and Don looked at each other hesitantly, before glancing at Mikey, who still held a superior grin on his beak.

"Uh, Mikey," Don said, "Don't you think you went a little… a smidge… way too far there?"

"Whatever." Mikey responded. "It was just a playful joke. He had it coming. He can't just hide this from us for ten years and expect to get away with it unscathed."

"But aren't you the least bit worried about the backlash?"

"Nah." Mikey dismissed, waving his hand, "I've dealt with his abuse for sixteen years. It's all in good fun. What's the worst he could do?" He proceeded to saunter off to his room.

Looking at each other, Don and Leo decided to leave well enough alone, as they knew they no longer had a part in this kerfuffle, shrugged, and went back to their respective rooms.

However, unbeknownst to them, the red-banded turtle was quietly scheming a way to get back at his brother, wracking his brain for a method that would really teach him a lesson.

'_I'll teach him to not talk shit about my viola.' _Raph thought angrily, punching his punching bag with renewed vigor. '_But I need_ _a way to really get him. A way to assure that he'll never be able to get the sound out of his head again…'_

Raph stopped at the last thought, and a devious smirk appeared on his face.

"Oh, I know what to do." He muttered. Going over to his desk, he grabbed his cellphone and dialed the first number he could think of.After a few rings, a feminine voice came out of the speaker.

"Hello? Raph?"

"Hey, Jennifer?" Raph replied, giving his best impression of the Grinch smile. "We've got a bonehead viola-basher on our hands. You know what to do."

Author's Note: What will happen to Mikey? Will Raph get his proper revenge? Will Mikey appreciate the viola as an instrument of its own? Tune in next time! Same bat time! Same bat channel!

And for anyone who's read Ultimate Turtleetts, this may or may not be the same Jennifer. It's up to you whether she is or not. The last chapter will come soon. Please review.


End file.
